Jays fall at Blue & Gold (Rebroadcast Available)

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Willow Springs heated up in the final period, pulling away from Marshfield High School with 30 fourth period points, earning a 71-63 victory in the quarterfinals of the 62^nd Annual Blue & Gold Basketball Tournament Thursday at Hammons Student Center.

The Bears improved to 9-1 with a second win over Marshfield this season, and will play Republic in the Blue Division semifinals Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Blue Jays fell to 8-3 with the setback.

Willow Springs hit 6-of-8 field goals and 17-of-20 free throws in the final period to break open a close game. Four Bears finished in double figures scoring, including 5-11 senior forward Blake Haugstead. Haugstead, a small but quick post player, scored 19 points with 9 rebounds and 2 steals, making 6-of-12 field goals and all 7 free throws he attempted in the game.

Senior guard Josh Kraus finished with 14 points, hitting 2-of-3 3-point shots for Willow Springs with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Jacob Berger added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists to the winning attack and Jacob Capader also scored 13 points for Willow Springs.

Senior point guard Kelby Phelps scored 18 points to lead the Blue Jays attack with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots and 2 steals in the game. Phelps missed much of the second half because of foul trouble.

Senior Nathan Van Diggelen posted a double-double for Marshfield with 15 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 6-of-12 field goals, including a trey, and 2-of-3 free throws with 1 assist.

Cameron Keenan scored 10 points for Marshfield, hitting 4-of-6 field goals, adding 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 assists to the Jays attack.

“I thought Cameron played really well,” Marshfield coach Tom Stokes said.

Senior guard Justin Jones had another solid outing for Marshfield scoring 9 points, including a crowd-pleasing dunk from the 5-11 guard, with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists.

Senior Justin Drane chipped in with 8 points, 3 rebounds, a steal and an assist for Marshfield.

Charlie Williams pulled down a pair of rebounds for the Blue Jays.

Marshfield led 14-13 after one period, but fell behind 25-24 by intermission after missing 10-of-13 field goals in the second quarter. The lead changed hands often in the third period before Willow Springs started knocking down shots in the fourth quarter.

Marshfield will next play at Reeds Spring on Jan. 4 with freshman action starting at 5 p.m., followed by JV and varsity games.

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